Design, testing and characterization of innovative TiN–TiO2 surfaces inactivating bacteria under low intensity visible light

Ti was sputtered in a plasma chamber under a N2 atmosphere, depositing TiN films on polyester fibers. These films show a significant adsorption in the visible spectral region. A TiN layer 50 nm thick sputtered for 3 min under low intensity/actinic visible light led to the fastest bacterial inactivation (120 min). These innovative TiN nanoparticulate films were characterized by XPS, DRS and TEM.